Grevillea rosmarinifolia plant named &#39;H16&#39;

ABSTRACT

‘H16’ is a distinctive variety of  Grevillea rosmarinifolia  which is characterized by the combination of a denser plant habit and a greater number of inflorescences per plant.

The present application claims priority from a provisional U.S.application Ser. No. 61/817,467 filed Apr. 30 2013, which is hereinincorporated by reference.

LATIN NAME OF THE GENUS AND SPECIES

The Latin name of the genus and species of the novel variety disclosedherein is Grevillea rosmarinifolia.

VARIETY DENOMINATION

The inventive variety of Grevillea rosmarinifolia disclosed herein hasbeen given the variety denomination ‘H16’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct perennial variety ofGrevillea rosmarinifolia, which has been given the variety denominationof ‘H16’. Grevillea rosmarinifolia is a well-known Australian nativespecies, which usually occurs as a small to medium rounded shrub growingto a mature height of approximately 0.3 to 2.0 meters high. In theUnited States, Grevillea is typically used in commercial and residentiallandscaping in arid climates. The common name of this species isRosemary Grevillea. Its market class is that of an ornamental plant.‘H16’ is intended for use in landscaping and as a decorative plant.

Parentage: In 2003 a seedling occurred from open pollination ofGrevillea rosmarinifolia plants in a nursery operation in New SouthWales, Australia and was isolated from other progeny because it waseasily observed to have a more compact and dense growth habit whencompared to siblings. The candidate seedling was grown to a maturegrowth stage where it was confirmed to have a more dense foliage andgrowth habit compared to its probable parent Grevillea ‘ScarlettSprite’. The new and distinct variety was named ‘H16’.

Asexual Reproduction: ‘H16’ was first grown from cuttings in spring 2007to see if it grew true to type. It was found to grow uniform andreproduce in a stable manner and 6 successive cycles of vegetativepropagation have proven to be true to type also.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

‘H16’ is a distinctive variety of Grevillea rosmarinifolia which ischaracterized by the combination of a denser plant habit and a greaternumber of inflorescences per plant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a comparison of the secondary branching between ‘H16’ andcomparator, Grevillea rosmarinifolia ‘Scarlet Sprite’

FIG. 2 shows the difference in plant growth density between a mature‘H16’ plant, on right, and comparator ‘Scarlet Sprite’ on left.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary mature specimen of a ‘H16’ plant, establishedin the landscape.

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT

The following is a detailed botanical description of a new and distinctvariety of a Grevillea rosmarinifolia ornamental plant known as ‘H16’.Plant observations were made on plants grown in New South Wales,Australia. Unless indicated otherwise, the descriptions disclosed hereinare based upon observations made from 3 year-old mature ‘H16’ plantsgrown in full sun from rooted cuttings in 400 mm nursery pots filledwith soilless potting media, maintained with granular slow releasefertilizer and regularly watered with overhead irrigation. No pest anddisease measures were taken. Observation data was recorded in the springof 2011.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain characteristicswill vary with older or, conversely, younger plants. ‘H16’ has not beenobserved under all possible environmental conditions. Where dimensions,sizes, colors and other characteristics are given, it is to beunderstood that such characteristics are approximations or averages setforth as accurately as practicable. The phenotype of the variety mayvary with variations in the environment such as season, temperature,light intensity, day length, cultural conditions and the like. Colornotations are based on The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, TheRoyal Horticultural Society, London, 2001 edition. Note that genericcolor descriptions such as ‘white’ do not exist in the RHS charts andthe corresponding RHS colors are quoted.

-   Growth habit, dimensions and color:-   Plant description:    -   -   Plant habit.—Shrub, rounded and very dense.        -   Height.—approximately 100 cm.        -   Width.—approximately 100 cm.        -   Bloom period.—Winter through spring and sporadically in fall            and winter in warmer climates.        -   Hardiness.—USDA Zone 9 to 11.        -   Environmental tolerances.—‘H16’ has not yet been observed            under all conditions but has shown to be heat tolerant,            adapting well to temperatures of 103 degrees Fahrenheit            without any noticeable damage. It has survived light to            moderate frosts and temperatures down to 25 degrees            Fahrenheit.        -   Drought tolerance.—‘H16’ has not yet been observed under all            conditions but it has shown good drought tolerance typical            of the species once established.        -   Pest and disease susceptibility or resistance.—In common            with the species, none of note.        -   Propagation.—Propagation is accomplished using softwood            cuttings. Roots well using rooting hormone compounds.        -   Time to develop roots.—3 to 4 weeks        -   Crop time.—From 9 to 12 months are needed to produce a            14-centimeter container with plant in flower, starting from            a rooted cutting, depending on geographic location.-   Stems: Freely-branched; orientation is upward and outward creating a    round plant shape. Stem shape is cylindrical; texture is corky; the    color of immature stems is closest to greyed-yellow 199D (RHS 1986    edition); the color of mature stems is described as a combination of    grey-brown 199C (RHS 1986 edition) to brown 200D (RHS 1986 edition).    Internode length averages 5.9 mm.-   Leaf: Arrangement is whorled and leaf attachment is sessile. Shape    is acicular, or needle-like; apex is acute; margin is entire. Upper    surface is glabrous and lower surface is pubescent. Average length    is 17 mm and the average width is 1.0 mm. Color of both the adaxial    and abaxial surfaces are green corresponding to RHS 141A.-   Roots: Clusters of closely spaced short lateral rootlets-   Inflorescence: Apical and axillary racemes with small clusters of    flowers; dimensions vary but a mature terminal raceme is    approximately 70 to 80 mm in length, from the base of the penduncle    to the stigma of the terminal-most flower, and approximately 65 to    75 mm wide, from style to style of the most outstretched lateral    flowers. Flower opening sequence can be described as racemose.-   Flowers: Small, pedicellate floret (pedicils of approximately 5 to    10 mm long, depending on age) with a closed perianth which creates a    floral tube made up of two dorsal and two ventral tepals, which    terminate at their apex and form a ball-like “tepal limb” which    house the anthers. A relatively long, curved and pronounced pistil    emerges from the dorsal tepals. Perianth, style and stigma colors    are red RHS 46A; pollen presenter color approximates to yellow green    154D (RHS 1986 edition). Perianth tube width averages 5.2 mm with an    average length of 22 mm, including the outstretched style.-   Fruit and seed: Observations not yet recorded.

COMPARISON H16 WITH OTHER VARIETIES OF GREVILLEA ROSMARINIFOLIA

Several of Grevillea rosmarinifolia varieties were initially compared to‘H16’ but were ultimately excluded as comparators for one or morereasons. It was determined that the most similar variety of commonknowledge was, in fact, the supposed seed parent, Grevillearosmarinifolia ‘Scarlet Sprite’. Both have a similar growth habit andplant shape and both have a similar flower color and bloom habit.However, by comparison, ‘H16’ exhibits more vigorous branching whichtranslates to a denser growth habit and more inflorescences per plant.

With respect to branching vigor, based on observations and datacollected in spring 2011 from 12 random branches on 3 year old plantsgrown in 400mm nursery pots in full sun, ‘H16’ had, on average, 5.6secondary branches of more than 10 cm in length. By comparison, ‘ScarletSprite’ plants of the same age had, on average, only 1 secondary branchof more than 10 cm in length. Refer to FIG. 1 for an illustration ofthis observation. Because these secondary branches subsequently giverise to tertiary branches, it stands to conclude that a plant withlonger secondary branches like ‘H16’ has a denser plant habit. Theselonger secondary branches also translate into a greater number ofinflorescences per plant as axillary inflorescence of Grevillearosmarinifolia occur along the entire length of these secondarybranches.

Furthermore, measurements were taken from the 10 of the longestsecondary branches of five individual plants of both ‘H16’ and ‘ScarletSprite’. The data collected shows that from the measured, the longestsecondary branches of ‘H16’ had an average length on 12.2 cm whereas theaverage length of the longest secondary branches of ‘Scarlet Sprite’ was8.04 cm. This data further supports the assertion that ‘H16’ has adenser growth habit and a greater number of inflorescences per plant.

The combination of a denser plant habit and a greater number ofinflorescences makes ‘H16’ a desirable ornamental plant suited for massproduction for pot and landscape use.

That which is claimed is:
 1. A new and distinct variety of Grevillearosmarinifolia plant named ‘H16’, substantially as described andillustrated herein